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INTRODUCTION
The primary purpose of this study is to establish an academic
investigation into the virtual community by examining the
various types of online communities, as well as the attitudes
of artists and art educators towards these communities. How
are artists and art educators using virtual communities? How
do virtual communities assist and inhibit the process of art
making and art teaching? How does the virtual community impact
and alter relationships, space, rituals, identity, artistic
practice, ideas about public and private, fiction and fact?
In my research, I intend to examine how several virtual communities
are currently using web space, and how these virtual experiences
affect the work of art educators and art makers.
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DEFINING VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES
DICTIONARY
vir·tu·al
adj.
1. Existing or resulting in essence or effect though not in
actual fact, form, or name: the virtual extinction of the
buffalo.
2. Existing in the mind, especially as a product of the imagination.
Used in literary criticism of a text.
3. Computer Science. Created, simulated, or carried on by
means of a computer or computer network: virtual conversations
in a chatroom.
com·mu·ni·ty
n. pl. com·mu·ni·ties
1. a. A group of people living in the same locality and under
the same government.
b. The district or locality in which
such a group lives.
2. a. A group of people having common interests: the scientific
community; the international business community.
b. A group viewed as forming a distinct
segment of society: the gay community; the community of color.
3. a. Similarity or identity: a community of interests.
b. Sharing, participation, and fellowship.
4. Society as a whole; the public.
5. Ecology.
a. A group of plants and animals living
and interacting with one another in a specific region under
relatively similar environmental
conditions.
b. The region occupied by a group of
interacting organisms.
virtual community - a community of people sharing common
interests, ideas, and feelings over the internet or other
collaborative networks. - whatis.com
THESAURUS
virtual -
basic, constructive, essential, fundamental, implicit, implied,
in conduct, in effect, in practice, indirect, potential, practical,
pragmatic, tacit, unacknowledged
community -
association, body politic, brotherhood, center, colony, commonality,
commonwealth, company, district, general public, hamlet, jungle,
locality, nation, neighborhood, people, populace, public,
residents, society, state, territory, turf, affinity, identity,
kinship, likeness, sameness, semblance, similarity, alliance,
association, clan, clique, club, comradeship, coterie, fellowship,
fraternity, guild, league, order, secret society, society,
sodality, union
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Virtual communities are popping up all over the World Wide
Web, offering friendly environments and information tailored
to their members. More and more people are turning to web
communities to get their personal, professional, and social
needs met.
There are a number of ways in which virtual communities are
defined on the web. I will touch on each of the following
five categories in my research:
1. Email Discussion Lists - (assychronous communication)
Discussion Lists are the most basic and easiest form of online
gathering places to participate in assuming that each group
member has access to email. Users do not have to "check
in" somewhere to take part in the conversation, they
simply read and reply to group emails.
2. Message Board - (assychronous communication) Message Boards
offer additional features over a mailing list that give you
more community building power including a sense of place,
the context of each message, images, and the community's evolving
history.
3. Text chat - (sychronous communication) Text Chat allows
the user to communicate in real time - anyone who is connected
to the system has the ability to correspond instantly with
any other participant.
4. Multi-User Domains or Dungeons (MUDS) - (sychronous communication)
MUDS are an interactive environment using graphics, sound,
and animation and include customizable characters that represent
the members.
5. World Wide Web - (assychronous and sychronous communication)
The World Wide Web can host asynchronous message boards and
discussion lists as well as real time chat.
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THESIS PROJECT - CASE STUDY
The secondary purpose of my thesis proposes a virtual community
designed specifically for art educators. It's focus will be
on artteachers' interests and abilities relating to making
art. The community will exist to
encourage educators to pursue their own work by sharing their
creative needs, concerns, and inspirations with their peers.
Through interviews, galleries, an email discussion list, and
excellent creative resources, I'm hoping to admonish the statement
- THOSE WHO CAN'T.TEACH.
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METHODOLOGY
I intend to use a combination of methodologies to conduct
my research. My case study, Cut + Paste, will foster a substantial
amount of information as to how art educators are using virtual
communities. In addition, I will use historical information,
addressing briefly the evolution of the virtual community.
A large aspect of my research will involve interviewing, emailing,
and viewing both art makers and art educators within the context
of a virtual community.
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CONCLUSION
My intention for this thesis is to present a view of what
is currently happening within virtual communities to affect
the artist and art community. My study will evaluate how artists
and art educators are presently using virtual communities,
how they may use them in the future, whether or not curriculum
can be clearly translated through the web, and how virtual
communities are being used as communication tools to expand
community. It is hoped that the findings of this thesis will
make a significant contribution to the existing body of knowledge
concerning artists and virtual communities.
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